ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE SOUTH-EASTERN SLOPES OF MT. KOSMAJ.

The paper presents the results of the archaeological survey of the southeastern slopes of Mt. Kosmaj, conducted by the Belgrade City Museum (archaeological collection of the Museum of Mladenovac). This survey focused on prehistoric and Roman sites, while medieval ones were presented and published in detail in 2020. Twenty-six sites were discovered, one of which was dated into the Early Neolithic, seven into the Bronze Age, five into the Early Iron Age, two into the Late Iron Age, and 11 into the Roman period. Most sites are located on mild slopes above the valleys of smaller watercourses (streams and rivers), or elevations and next to water sources following geographically most accessible communication routes. Based on the surface findings, namely, fragments of pottery and parts of building material, i.e. stone and adobe in the case of prehistoric sites, and stone, brick, and adobe in the case of Roman sites, remains of settlements were found in all the discovered archaeological sites. Among the discovered archaeological sites, the multi-layered site of Brljočevac represented a specific archaeological site in terms of its geographical position and size. The site of Brljočevac is located at the foot of the hill of Košutica on a dominant, high, fan-shaped plateau. During the archaeological survey carried out in 2022, Trench 1 was placed on the edge of the site, along the northern side of the rocky road, and on the surface of a previously registered partially destroyed architectural construction. In Trench 1 (dimensions: 5 m x 1 m), remains of Building 1 were discovered. Building 1, with its preserved irregularly shaped part, was dug into a light brown, archaeologically sterile soil layer. The excavated part of Building 1 was filled with a layer of grey-brown colour, containing a large amount of crushed clay, ash, pottery fragments, animal remains, and several larger stones attached to the building's structural elements. Based on the geographical position and chronologic determination, it was most likely a fortified settlement type from the transition period of the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age that was discovered at the site of Brljočevac. The archaeological material dated into the Early and Late Iron Age from the archaeological sites at the south-eastern slopes of Mt. Kosmaj is analogous to those from the wider area of the Central Balkans and the Serbian part of the Danube region, and the Great Morava basin. It can be hypothesised that the population of the Late Iron Age remained in the settlements after the Roman conquest and during the 1st century. At the site of Vodice, between the villages of Velika Ivanča and Pružatovac, along with pre-Roman autochthonous pottery, lead slag was found, which can be associated with Roman mining activities at Metalla Tricornensia (Mt. Kosmaj). The beginning of mine exploitation is roughly dated into the 1st -- end of the 1st century, i.e. during the reign of the Roman Emperor Trajan (98--117). From the 2nd century, there was a complete dominance of provincial Roman material culture. The characteristics of the provincial Roman culture can be seen from mobile archaeological findings from the sites of Jablanica 2 in Pružatovac, Reka--Selište in Amerić and Livade in Velika Ivanča. During the 3rd and the 4th century, a larger number of sites probably represented smaller or larger agricultural farms. This is confirmed by the findings of iron agricultural tools at sites in Velika Ivanča. The accidental finding of a millstone from Amerić, at the foot of the hill of Košutica, is brought into connection with household activities. The only craft activity was confirmed at the site of Milatovica, where the existence of Late Antique pottery kilns for the production of vessels, sometimes with glazed surfaces, was registered. The south-western area of Mt. Kosmaj is already well-known in the archaeological and historical literature due to numerous Roman period sites, linked to the exploitation of silver and lead ores, and the remains of Medieval monasteries, churches, and Late Medieval settlements and necropoles. The results of this research provide insight into the archaeological heritage of the south-eastern slopes of Mt. Kosmaj, and contribute to the archaeological map of the broader area of this mountain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]